Little Boy Blue (Criminal Minds Fanfiction)
by FrodoLuverNumber1
Summary: Spencer Reid has always worried about his mother, Diana. With her schizophrenia, he's always been concerned for her. But that escalates concern when Diana is kidnapped. With puzzles texted to his phone and his mother's life hanging in the balance (and his possibly as well), how will the team (and Reid especially) deal with this difficult case? *Post-Revelations*
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: The Letter

"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Hotchie! Happy birthday to you!"

The BAU team stands around Aaron Hotchner's office, singing loudly and quite terribly to their Unit Chief. Hotch actually cracks a smile at their horrible attempt of singing. "That was, uh, great, guys."

"Great?" Technical Analyst Penelope Garcia scoffs. "That was fantastic!"

"Baby girl," Supervisory Special Agent Derek Morgan says, "I think you're confusing 'fantastic' with 'horrible' again. That would explain why you thought that Camelot online game was so great!"

"You're hot but not hot enough for me to allow you to be rippin' on Camelot," Garcia retorts and the whole team laughs.

That is, the whole team but Reid.

Supervisory Special Agent Spencer Reid is lost in thought at the moment. His paranoid schizophrenic mother Diana had recently had a hard week with many hallucinations and Reid was worried about her. Even with his high IQ and genius mind, the youngest member on the BAU team couldn't do anything for his mother, and that plagued him without fail.

"Not hungry?" The media and police liaison Jennifer Jareau asks Reid, walking up to him holding out a piece of white cake with blue frosting sitting on a paper plate. "The cake's really good!"

Reid smiles weakly at his good friend. "No, not really, J.J."

"Just one bite?" J.J. asks. "I promise you'll like it."

"No, thanks," Reid says, sighing.

J.J. furrows her brow at the young genius. "Are you okay, Reid? You seem... off or something."

"Well-" Reid starts before he feels a hand slap him on the back.

"So, Pretty Boy," Morgan smiles at Reid, "no facts about birthdays? The first birthday cake was baked in 1654? Candles were first placed on a birthday cake to scare away evil spirits?"

"Actually, birthday cakes weren't introduced until the mid-1800s and birthday candles weren't put on candles to show how old the recipient of the cake is as we do today and definitely not to scare away bad spirits , but simply to shed light in a dark room," Reid says in one long breath, then adds, "but I don't really feel spouting off facts no one cares about anyways right now."

Morgan raises his eyebrows at J.J. and she shrugs. She mouths to Morgan, "Find out what's wrong," and creeps away to give the boys some privacy.

"Are you doin' alright, kid?" Morgan asks, sitting down Reid on the stiff couch in Hotch's office. "What's up with you?"

"It's my mom," Reid says finally after taking a long, shaky breath. "She's been having a tough time. I'm really worried for her."

"Oh, well, she's being given the best care she can get," Morgan replies.

"I know, but sometimes it seems like it's not enough," Reid says, running his skinny fingers through his brown hair as he always does when he's stressed.

Morgan sighs. Poor kid. He has to deal with so much. He never really opens up, either. So Morgan starts to do the one thing he knows will help: profile him.

Reid sits on that couch, slouched over. His elbows sit upon his knees, one of his hands rubbing his forehead, clearly stating he's stressed. His light blue sweater is crumpled and his tan pants are wrinkled, stating he got ready in a hurry, possibly being he overslept but also possibly because he'd been over thinking about his mother, and knowing Reid, it was probably the latter.

"Well, it won't do anything to sit here worrying about it," Morgan says. "It won't do a thing."

"That's the thing!" Reid exclaims, throwing his arms up in the air in exasperation. "I can't do anything to help her! Not a damn thing!"

Morgan raises his eyebrows. It wasn't like Reid to swear like that. "It's okay, Reid. Yeah, you can't do anything. So, all you CAN do is work really hard, write her, and visit as much as you can, alright?"

Reid nods slowly, staring at the floor.

"Reid, look at me," Morgan says. "Just focus on work and visiting, okay?"

"I know! You told me!" Reid yells, a little louder than he meant to.

J.J., hearing this, turns around and tilts her head at Morgan.

"Sorry," Reid says, shaking his head. "It's just-"

"Been really hard," Morgan finishes. "I get it."

"Sorry, I, uh, kind of yelled at you," Reid says.

"'Kind of'? You completely did!" Morgan laughs.

Reid laughs back. "Yeah, sorry about that, Morgan. I mean it."

"I know ya' are, kid," Morgan says, and gets up from the couch. "Know how 'bout some cake?"

"Spencer? Where are you, Spencer?"

"I'm here, Mom! Right here!"

Diana Reid is sitting in her chair by the window in the Bennington Sanatorium. Her eyes scan the room looking for her beloved son, when he sits right beside her. The voices in her head scream at her, "He's not here! Why would he be here? He thinks you're just a crazy old freak! He HATES you!"

"No!" Diana screams, and she throws herself on the floor.

"Mom!" Reid yells. "It's okay! I'm here!"

Diana cries into the carpet and then she stops breathing.

"Mom?" Reid asks. Then he realizes she's not breathing. "Oh my God! Mom!"

Reid bolts upright in bed. He's drenched in sweat. Reid puts a hand to his chest, trying to soothe his racing heart. The shaky breath Reid takes is hard to take in.

He runs his fingers through his hair and coughs. What a terrible dream.

He checks the clock. 1:33. YEAH, I WON'T BE FALLING BACK ASLEEP TONIGHT. Reid stumbles out of bed and flips on the light to the kitchen. Reid starts to brew a pot of coffee when he sees a blue envelope lying on his kitchen table.

Reid furrows his brow and walks over to the table. He picks up the envelope that bears the words, "To My Dear Spencie," written on it.

Reid shakily opens the envelope and takes out a blue letter with blue writing on it. He begins to read:

_To My Total Genius Dr. Spencer Reid,_

_How've you been? It's been a while. Are you still as geeky and awkward as you used to be? My, you were. Anyways, let's get down to business (to defeat the Huns!)_

_I have your mom with me. And you know what? We're gonna' play a game. I'll send fun little puzzles like a scavenger hunt to your phone to solve. You always used to LOVE those. You'll solve those all by yourself and your team or else, well, mommy dearest will become mommy deadest._

_Love, Little Boy Blue_


	2. Chapter 2

Reid's heart stops. He drops the letter and fights to take in shallow breaths.

"Oh God," he says aloud, not to anyone in particular, "he has my mom."

Reid dashes back to his room and gropes in the dark for his phone. He punches in the number of the first person who he thinks of in a crisis.

"Morgan? It's Reid."

"Um, hey, kid. Ugh, what time is it?"

"My mom's been kidnapped."

"I'll be right over."

A knock on the door makes Reid's head snap up from the kitchen table and runs for the door. He throws open the door and lets out a sigh of relief when he sees Morgan standing at the door.

"Thank God you're here!" Reid exclaims and pulls Morgan into his apartment.

"Hey, kid, how ya' holdin' up?" Morgan asks.

"Um," Reid says, sitting down at the kitchen table quite shakily, "not so well."

"Don't worry Reid," Morgan says, putting a hand on Reid's shoulder. "We'll get her back. Now, how do you know that she was kidnapped?"

"This." Reid hands Morgan the letter and sits in silence as his friend reads the letter.

Morgan lets out an exhale of breath when he finishes reading. "Little Boy Blue? Okay, how about first we call to see if your mom is actually gone?"

"Sure," Reid nods. Reid punches in the Bennington Sanatorium's number and waits with bated breath for someone, anyone to pick up.

"Hello, Bennington Sanatorium. This is Angela speaking. How may I help you today?" a cheery female voice on the other side of the phone asks.

"Hi, this is Spencer Reid. Where is my mother at this moment?" Reid asks, his fingers entwining the cord of his phone; wow, he still has a corded phone.

"I'll go check, let me put you on hold," the girl says and smooth jazz emanates from the phone into Reid's ear.

When the voice picks up the phone again, her voice is very panicked, "Um, I'm sorry, Dr. Reid, but we can't find your mother. She isn't in her room which is where we left her and the door was locked so she couldn't get out. We'll try to find her. I have to go."

Reid's stomach drops and he feels sick as he presses the "End Call" button. "Yep. She's gone."

"Okay, well, I'll call the team to come over," Morgan says, whipping out his phone.

Reid stares at the floor, not replying.

"Hey," Morgan says, "we're gonna' find her, okay?"

Reid simply nods.

"We'll get her back."

"Okay, so do you know how the letter got here?"

The BAU team stands around Reid's apartment. Hotch holds the letter, Supervisory Special Agent Emily Prentiss and Senior Supervisory Special Agent Jason Gideon sit at the kitchen table, Garcia sits down at Reid's computer (she feels more at home there), Morgan stares out the window, and J.J. sits down on the red plaid beside Reid, who has his head in his hands.

"Hello?" Emily asks. "Earth to Reid!"

Reid looks up. "What?"

"Do you know where the letter came from?" Hotch repeats. "How this, um, Little Boy Blue got in here?"

Reid shakes his head. "No. Not a clue. And there weren't any prints. I checked."

"Alright," Morgan says. "So, all we know is that you're mom is missing and that you're supposed to be getting texts from this Little Boy Blue guy. Have you gotten any texts yet? And how would this guy have gotten your number if he was texting you?"

"I don't know how he got my number but I haven't gotten any te-" as soon as these words leave his mouth, Reid's phone chirps a little tune, announcing he has a message.

Reid flips open his phone and presses the "Open Message" button on the device.

"I got one," Reid says, swallowing. "A message. This is what it says, ' First Hint: I'm in Sin City and here's a poem that'll hopefully make your tummy rumble: A cinnamon aroma encircles the street, Where everyone is rushing and scurrying feet, It lures the whole crowd, the smell is enticing, Freshly baked cakes, smothered in icing."

"That's vaguely ominous," Garcia says. "What's that from?"

"It sounds familiar but I don't know why," Reid explains. "I'm supposed to play a scavenger hunt with this person. I have to or else he will... kill my mom."

"We'll, we're just going to have to solve this guy's messed up game," J.J. says.

"Yay," Reid says weakly.

"Okay," Morgan says, coming away from the window. "Let's head out. Now."

"Really? Just once will you leave the pickle chips at home? They stink up the whole plane!"

Morgan chomps his dill chips louder and obnoxiously straight at J.J.

"You are SO annoying," J.J. rolls her eyes, but laughs.

Reid stares out the window at the passing night sky. He's trying not to freak out, but that's not easy when your mom's been kidnapped.

"Hey, Einstein, how ya' doin'?" Morgan asks, sitting down across from Reid on the plane with his chips.

"Trying not to lose my mind over this," Reid gives Morgan a slight smile.

"We wouldn't want that," Morgan grins. "We can't have you losing that big ol' brain o' yours!"

Reid genuinely smiles, but doesn't say anything.

Morgan sighs. "Don't worry. We'll catch whoever did this and make 'em pay. I'LL make sure of that!"


	3. Chapter 3

When the plane lands in Las Vegas, Nevada, the BAU team descends the plank from the jet. Hotch says, "Alright, Prentiss, Gideon and I will go down to the police station to see how much information they have so far, J.J. and Morgan head to the Sanatorium. We'll need a lot of ground to cover there since the place is big."

"What should I do?" Reid pipes up.

"Um," Hotch starts unsurely when Morgan interrupts, "You can come with us, if that's cool, Hotch."

Hotch nods and the team drive away to their assigned places.

When Hotch, Gideon, and Prentiss arrive at the police department, they immediately know they have their work cut out for them.

Police, detectives, and other various law enforcement workers rush about in a very disorganized fashion. Papers flutter off desks and people crashing into each other because they're just not paying attention.

"Oh, this'll be fun..." Prentiss mutters.

The three FBI agents head into the police chief's office. A stout man wearing a white collared shirt that is much too small for him. The man looks up as Gideon knocks on the door. "Yes?"

"This is SSA Emily Prentiss, Senior Supervisory Agent Jason Gideon, and I'm Unit Chief Aaron Hotchner from the BAU," Hotch explains. "How much information do you have on the missing person case for Diana Reid?"

"I'm Police Chief Austin Brown if you're wondering..." the stout man mutters. "Oh, yeah, Diana. We just were made aware of her going missing. Not much so far."

"Well, what do you have?" Gideon persists.

"Uh, we know that she's gone?"

"Oh, God."

The scene at Bennington Sanatorium isn't much different from the police department: it's disorganized and people look flustered.

"Hi," Reid says, rushing to the front desk of the sanatorium. "Are you Angela?"

The blonde young woman at the front desk looks up from computer. "Yes, I'm Angela!"

"Hi," Reid repeats, "I'm Spencer Reid."

"Oh," Angela's face falls, "I'm sorry about your mom. You look just like your mom described you! She loved to talk about you! She just GUSHED about you!" Angela did a quick once-over of Reid's thin frame. "She always did say you were quote, 'Much too skinny!'"

Reid smiles faintly. "That sounds like Mom. So, can we see her room?"

Morgan clears his throat. Reid turns around. "Oh, right! This is SSA Derek Morgan and Media Liaison Jennifer Jareau from the BAU. Now, can we go?"

Angela nods. "Of course."

Angela heads the way to Diana's room. They finally come to the room and step into the crime scene.

It looks just like a normal room, as if an abduction hadn't taken place here. How much Reid wishes that's so.

Scanning the room, NOTHING is out of place. Diana's bed is made neatly with a stuffed giraffe (her favorite animal) Reid had gotten her for her birthday sitting on the bed. Reid picks up the giraffe with a gloved hand and his lip trembles. He takes a deep breath. JUST TREAT THIS LIKE IT'S A NORMAL CASE, he thinks.

"So, any prints?" Reid asks.

"No, none, the cop guys said," a young man with brown hair in a neat suit says in the room.

"Who are you?" J.J. asks.

"I run the hospital," the man says.

The trio scan the room from top to bottom. The window hasn't been forced open and the door wasn't the way the assailant had exited.

Reid looks around and even though it pains him incredibly to do so, Reid puts himself in the abductor's shoes. How would he get of here if he's going to get himself and another person out of this small room?

Wait, how did he get here in the beginning? Not the window or the door; then how?

With an empty, sick, icy feeling forming in his belly, Reid realizes how the abductor got in.

"They work here!" Reid blurts out.

"I can assure you that no one that works here would abduct a patient," the man with the brown hair says.

"Excuse me, Mr..."

"Dan Flint."

"Mr. Flint," Reid continues, "I'm sorry but that's the only explanation for this."

"That would make sense since there's no other possible way to get in," J.J. agrees.

"I can assure you-"

"Look, I don't care what you think you can assure me, I know how to do my job and I KNOW that someone on your staff has done this, so getting your staff list would be GREATLY appreciated, Mr. Flint," Reid says shortly and a bit snottily, but this man is REALLY starting to get on his nerves.

"Um, alright," Dan mumbles and awkwardly exits the room.

"Uh, hey, Reid," Morgan says, surprised at his normally kind friend's demeanor, "do you mind trying to be a little nicer to Flint? We'll be working with him so-"

"What? Treat him with courtesy even though I have probably twice his I.Q.?" Reid says rather than asks.

"WHAT did you just say?" Morgan demands.

Then Reid realizes what he just said.

"Oh my God, I don't know why I said that," Reid says, sitting down in one of two plastic chairs placed in the room, closing his eyes and rubbing his temples.

"I do," J.J. says. "You're stressed and I can see why. I would be, too."

J.J. sits down by Reid and takes Reid's hand in hers. "Reid, look at me."

Reid opens his big, brown eyes and looks into J.J.'s own blue ones. "What?"

"We ARE going to find her, okay?" J.J. says. "Alright?"

"How do you know?" Reid retorts. "I know how these things work. Some people get found in time, while others..."

"That's not going to happen," Morgan interjects. "All we can try to do to figure out what these freak's clues mean."

"Right," Reid nods. "Okay, so the first 'clue' or whatever we want to call it talked about a place with cinnamon smells and people scurrying."

"Since this guy has made it personal, it's probably somewhere you've been before," J.J. observes.

Reid thinks and suddenly it comes to him.

"I know where we have to go."


	4. Chapter 4

"So all you know is that Diana Reid is missing?" Prentiss asks incredulously.

Brown nods slowly. "Well, we kinda' just got the tip that she's missing."

When Brown turns to answers Gideon's question, Prentiss rolls her eyes. WOW, THIS IS GONNA' BE GREAT FUN! she thinks. Prentiss can tell this guy is incompetent and she has NO IDEA why this man is the police chief. Patience is not her strong suit and now she is having to use it; oh, goody. Then she remembers something crucial.

"Uh, guys?" she says and Hotch and Gideon turn towards her to listen. "Didn't the letter say only Reid and the team are supposed to work this case?"

"Well, we need to get as much help as we can," Gideon states matter-o'-factly.

"Yeah, but what if he finds out that we've asked for help and does something drastic?"

Hotch nods. "You're right. Damn. Alright, Brown. This is a touchy subject so try to interfere as little as possible."

"Why?"

"It's a long, messed-up story."

How true that statement is.

Just then, Prentiss' phone rings. "Oh, one sec. Hello? You found it? Okay, we'll be right over." Prentiss hangs up. "They found the place. Let's head out."

"Smitty's Bakery. This is it."

Reid, J.J., and Morgan stand in front of a small bakery with a blue and white awning.

"You sure?" Morgan asks Reid.

"Am I ever not?" Reid replies with a slight smile, trying to lighten the mood.

"Ah, shut up, Smart Ass," Morgan laughs and the trio head into the bakery.

The team is hit by an intense smell of cinnamon and they see the bakery is crammed with bustling people.

"Oi!" a chubby man from behind the counter calls out when sees Reid. "Is that you, Spencer?"

"Hey, Fredrick," Reid nods to the man. "How are you?"

"Not bad. Busy as usual," Fredrick says.

"That's because you're the best baker in Nevada," Reid smiles.

"Oh, are you trying to compliment your way into some free muffins?" Fredrick laughs.

"Could be," Reid replies. "But, I'm here with the BAU. My, uh, mom's been, um, abducted."

Fredrick's eyes widen. "Oh my! I'm so sorry, Spencer! What can I do?"

"Has anyone dropped off a letter or something like that recently? It's probably blue," Morgan tells the baker.

"In fact," Fredrick says, stroking his beard in deep thought, "yes, I did have a gentleman come in here and drop something off. I think it was an envelope. Let me get it. Lisa, man the counter," he tells a young girl standing behind the counter.

"We should call the rest of the team and get them down here," Morgan says and whips out his phone to do so.

"Whatever we find in the envelope, we have to keep calm, okay, guys?" J.J. says, trying to make it seem like she's talking to Morgan AND Reid when it's obvious she's only talking to the youngest BAU team member.

"What do you think we're going to find?" Reid asks, a terrible sense of fear washing over him.

Before J.J. can respond, Fredrick returns with the tell-tale blue envelope.

Reid hurriedly tears open the envelope (with gloves on, mind you) while Morgan asks, "Did you see who gave you the envelope? What he looked like or what he wore?"

"I know he had longish, black hair, but I couldn't see what his face looked like because he had a hat shielding it. He was wearing a red baseball jersey with the number 21 on it. I don't know what team it was, though," Fredrick says in one long breath.

"G-Guys?" Reid stutters as he finishes reading the long letter in a few seconds.

"What is it?" J.J. asks timidly, nervous for what Reid's found.

"He sent a letter all right with the blue ink and everything, but he sent something along with it, too," Reid says slowly. "This."

He holds up a piece of a peach-colored fabric. "It's from my mom's favorite bathrobe."

J.J. exhales a big breath of air and Morgan rubs a hand down his face. "Oh, God. Well, what does the letter say?"

"This: 'You've found out my secret, my lil' buddy. Second clue: I'm in a dark place,'" Reid starts. "Now here's the poem: 'Everyone is welcome to walk through the door, it really doesn't matter if you're rich or poor; There are books in boxes and books on shelves, they're free for you to borrow, so help yourselves.'"

"It's talking about a library," J.J. says. "But which one? There's a ton."

"The Cloverfield Library," Reid states abruptly.

"How you know?" Morgan asks.

"I know why he's picking these places," Reid says. "It's where my worst memories occurred."

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened here?" Morgan asks.

Reid takes a deep breath. "Well," he begins shakily, "when I was little we used to come here all the time. I would always get cinnamon rolls because they're my favorite. ...We came here after my dad left us. My mom took me here to try to and cheer me up but it didn't work. I remember feeling just so...SO sad that day and I thought the reason that he left us was because I wasn't good enough to be his son or something. I never wanted to feel like that again, but coming here makes me feel exactly like that."

J.J. and Morgan look with sad looks on their faces at their young friend.

"Geez, I'm, uh, really, sorry," Morgan says sorrowfully.

"It's not your fault, Morgan, but it IS this 'Little Boy Blue''s fault that I have to remember this place," Reid says with an acidity in his voice that could burn a hole through metal.

"Don't worry, Spence," J.J. smiles brightly, but her eyes hold a deep sadness at all Reid has gone through.

Being captured, drugged, and tortured by Tobias Hankel, becoming addicted to duladid, the whole Riley Jenkins debacle, and now this. What next? If they don't get Diana back, God forbid, Reid will snap.

And that would NOT be good.

"How can I NOT worry?" Reid asks incredulously, starting to pace. "This is my MOTHER we're talking about. My SCHIZOPHRENIC mother. What if she h-has a hallucination or something? Sh-She could start to have a seizure too o-o-or something! Or die! Wh-What if she dies? Oh G-"

"Reid!" Morgan shouts as he places his hands on Reid's trembling shoulders. "Snap out of it! Take a deep breath and calm down!"

Reid takes a shaky breath and tries to calm himself. After he's not as freaked out, he says, "Okay, I'm good. Sorry. This is just really hard. I don't know if I'm strong eno-"

"Don't you say that!" J.J. says sternly, more so than she wanted. "You are strong! I know that for a fact! You've been through so much and you're going to get through this, too!" Her voice lightens. "You will, Spence."

Reid smiles at J.J. "Thanks, J.J. Let's get going to the library, then. We can tell Rossi, Prentiss, and Hotch to meet us there."

"Let's head out, then" Morgan says. He lets J.J. head out the door before pulling back Reid. "Hey, Reid," Morgan says, "is there something else on your mind besides your mom being kidnapped? I mean specifically."

Reid sighs. "Yes. I.. I understand what she's going through. I know what's going through her mind. She's freaking out."

Morgan puts a hand on the youngest BAU member's shoulder. "All we can do is try to find her, alright?"

Reid nods and starts to walk out with Morgan.

"And Kid," Morgan says, "when we find the son of a bitch who did this, I'll make him pay. You can be 100% sure of that."

"I'll gladly join you," Reid says with a hardness to his voice Morgan's never heard and he isn't sure if he likes it. "Now, let's go."


End file.
